Loving To Hate The Dark
by digthewriter
Summary: Neville hates the dark. What he hates even more is how Charlie teases him about it.


**Loving to hate the dark.**

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 **Summary:** Neville hates the dark. What he hates even more is how Charlie teases him about it.

 **Notes:** All my thanks to Ravenclawsquill for the beta. The characters in this story are not mine. This fic is written for fun. No offence is intended.

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Even as a child, Neville hadn't been a fan of the dark. So now, as an adult—an almost twenty-four year old, thank you very much—he still hated being alone in the dark. Or even being in the dark with company. His thoughts never leaving him alone.

Especially when it was the forest. Even though it was _supposed_ to be safe because really, they were out "ghost hunting" for Teddy and the rest of the Weasley grandkids, he was still not amused. He tried not to flinch at every sound of a crunch on a dry leaf, the breaking or snapping of a branch, and _most importantly_ at _his_ roaring laughter.

Charlie fucking Weasley, who worked with dragons on a daily basis and came to visit the Weasleys every other month—never missing Halloween. He was making the sounds to entertain the children but in reality, he was mostly scaring Neville.

At first, Charlie had crept up behind Neville and made him jump, charming leaves to fall on Neville's head as he bellowed. The family had enjoyed a nice laugh at _that_ , and then he'd pressed himself against Neville's back, using his arms to make a flailing motion, imitating a flying scarecrow.

Neville didn't know what was more annoying: the creepy woods, the darkness, everyone knowing he hated the forest, or the fact that he was absolutely and hopelessly attracted to Charlie Weasley.

"You know he only picks on you because he knows you scare easily," Ginny said to him once they were in the safe confines of the garden behind the Burrow.

"I don't scare _easily_ ," Neville said in a feeble attempt to protest. "I'm the supposed second hero of the Wizarding world!"

"Yeah, who's afraid of the dark."

"I'm not afraid of the dark!" Neville argued. "I just don't like it. I'd rather just have my wandlight guide me, that's all. I sleep in the dark."

As they entered the sitting room, almost everyone was crashed on the sofas. The babies were sleeping soundly on their fathers' bellies, and Angelina was propped up against Fleur's shoulder while Draco's head was resting on Harry's lap. There was barely a place to sit, except for the seat next to Charlie on the biggest sofa in the room.

Charlie raised an eyebrow at Neville and patted the empty spot.

Neville rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen to help Mrs Weasley, who was most likely brewing up some hot cocoa or baking snacks because the woman just never _stopped_.

"Oh dear!" she said, sounding worried as Neville walked up behind her.

"What's the matter?"

"Ron was supposed to take the rubbish out to the shed but I'm afraid he's settled in for the night," she said, sounding more concerned than Neville thought was normal. It was only a couple of small bags of rubbish.

"Can't it wait until the morning?" Neville asked, knowing the answer. He could almost hear his Gran yelling at him, _Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today._

"Gin—" Neville turned to the sitting room to call on Ginny so they could walk back to the shed together and take out the rubbish. He was certain the Wizarding Waste Management service was scheduled to pick it up at some ungodly hour in the morning. "Oh, no."

Ginny had ended up taking the last empty spot in the room and was already in the middle of a card game with Charlie and Oliver Wood.

 _Brilliant_.

"Dear, I know you hate the dark—"

"No. No, no," Neville said resignedly. "I'll do it. You invite me every year to the family event, and it's the least I can do for you as a thank you for feeding me." He smiled weakly at her and her answering grin seemed to light up the room. Neville didn't have much interaction with his mother – she barely remembered him – so doing a small favour for Mrs Weasley was no feat.

"You're a wonderful young man, Neville. Some lad is going to be so lucky to have you," she said, patting his shoulder, and turned away to tend to the sweets baking in the oven.

Neville frowned. Funny, he'd never told her he was gay.

0-0-0-0

Neville sighed, grabbed the few bags of rubbish Mrs Weasley had handed him and headed out to the shed. Alone. In the dark. He wondered why Mrs Weasley couldn't just spell the rubbish to take itself out, and concluded it must be because it needed to be spelled away from the rodents. It was different at his Gran's place: it was just the two of them there and the location was far less rural. The Burrow, meanwhile, had seven people staying there even on a slow night.

He walked out of the house and made his way around the corner.

"Bloody hell," he mumbled, remembering he'd left his wand on the kitchen table. How could he have been so stupid? Now he had no way of lighting up the pathway that led to the shed. "Merlin, Neville, you've done it this time."

"Boo!"

The voice came out of nowhere and Neville nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Stay away!" he yelled and, " _Praetego_!" the defensive fire spell he'd one used against a flesh-eating plant. He had no idea what was attacking him, but he reckoned, if he had any magic that worked wandlessly, this defensive spell would be it.

" _Deminoro Fuego_ ," a voice said, and the bit of fire that had _actually_ started from Neville's spell dissipated.

"What the bloody—stay away from me!"

The voice laughed, and _immediately_ Neville recognised it. "You're not funny, Charlie."

"Oh, on the contrary, my dear Neville, I find myself to be hilarious."

Neville rolled his eyes again, but he reckoned in the darkness of the night, Charlie couldn't see him, so he decided to brush past him in the direction of the shed. Or where he _thought_ the shed was, because he had no idea where he was going.

"Come on, Neville…" Charlie pulled on Neville's arm and Neville felt the heat rise through his body again. Gods, he truly enjoyed feeling that man's touch on him – even in the simplest of ways. "It was funny."

"It would be funny if it weren't happening to me. Now, if you don't mind…"

"Here…" Charlie said, raising his wand and creating a bit of light in the area around them. He reached for the bags Neville was holding and placed another shrinking spell on them. "I can take them for you."

Charlie turned away from Neville and started walking. Neville, feeling as though he needed to see the job followed through, followed Charlie. Yes, because that was the reason he was trailing the man, and for no other reason whatsoever.

Once they were in the shed, Charlie disposed of the rubbish and turned to look at Neville. "Done. Happy now?"

Neville gave him a scrutinising look. He wasn't honestly sure he knew what Charlie was trying to prove. "If you actually wanted to help me, you could have offered back in the kitchen—"

Charlie started to shake his head. "You don't have any siblings so I'm not surprised you don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"Once you offer to help in front of everyone else, then no one else will ever do the job, and you'll be stuck doing the chores all on your own forever. I saw what you were doing, and I also saw what Ginny did to you—she's smart like that. Only girl and all."

Neville nodded. Yeah, he'd missed out on having siblings, but Ginny was as much a sister to him as anything else. Harry had grown up alone too… it was no wonder they'd both been adopted by the Weasleys.

He gave a wistful smile and nodded again.

"What's that?" Charlie asked.

"What's what?" Neville asked, confused.

"That smile. Where'd you go for a second?"

Neville shrugged. "I suppose I should just be thankful we're a family. That I have one. More than just me and Gran. Ginny's like a sister to me, so you know—"

"Please do not even say that makes me your brother because—"

Neville couldn't help but laugh then. That's _not_ what he was thinking, and he was all sorts of fucked up, but having feelings for a man he'd consider his brother was not the type of fucked up he was.

There was a gush of wind and the door to the shed crashed closed. Neville jumped again. _For Merlin's sake, get a hold of yourself!_ Bloody hell, he absolutely hated how he got so startled so easily—"What?"

Strangely, his nerves calmed when he found himself settled in Charlie's arms. "Don't worry, I've got you."

"I'll have you know I'm usually not usually so jumpy. It's just—well, it's Halloween and I grew up…" _Alone_ "…without any siblings…"

"It's okay, Neville…" Charlie soothed, his hands rubbing small circles on Neville's back, and even though the wind, and the door slamming shut, and the scary moment had all passed, he was _still_ in Charlie's arms.

"I suppose this is all quite comical for you," Neville said.

"What'd you mean?"

"You've been spending all evening scaring me to entertain the kids, and now, here I am… scared again."

"Oh, Nev…"

"It'll be a nice story to tell…"

Neville started to pull away when Charlie gripped his wrist and kept him close. "Stop."

"Stop what?" Neville asked.

"Stop hiding yourself from me." Neville raised an eyebrow and looked at Charlie. "I tease you because otherwise, you never show yourself. Sure, you come to the family outings because you're Ron and Ginny's friend, but you don't ever do anything else. I tease you… I mean… I thought it'd be obvious, but maybe it isn't…"

And then the bloody wind was back and the door shook against it, giving Neville another start.

Charlie tightened his hold on Neville and Neville willingly leaned into the other man's body. A few moments passed where they stood still, then eventually Charlie's hands moved against Neville again. They pressed and massaged Neville's shoulders, back, and eventually moved down to grip his arse.

Neville knew he wasn't imagining this. He couldn't be. His body was almost moulding against Charlie's, his half-hard cock pressing against Charlie's thigh. "Why _did_ you decide to come and help me?" he asked.

"Seeing you going out alone in the dark…" Charlie said, chuckling lightly as he buried his face in the crook of Neville's neck, "I couldn't resist the idea of being your knight in shining armour. What if there were werewolves out here…?"

"It's not the full moon."

"Maybe not, but I couldn't risk it now, could I?"

"Why?" Neville asked, his fingers raking through Charlie's hair and tugging lightly. What he wouldn't have given for Charlie to look up and press their lips together.

"Have you always been this curious?" Charlie asked, his hand pressing firmly against Neville's arse, and his mouth just _so_ close to Neville's ear.

"My, Mr Weasley. I think you might be flirting with me," Neville said. His tone was light, but his heart was beating at a rate of a million times per minute.

"I think you might be right," Charlie said with a smile. "I'd like to do more than just flirt."

"What if someone…" was all Neville said when Charlie brought out his wand and murmured a spell. At once, the room fell silent. The wind, the vibrating door, and the rest of the outside world seemed to disappear, leaving Neville alone with Charlie.

"No one will come looking for us here."

"What did you do?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I stopped time?"

"Charlie…"

"Fine," Charlie said, tossing his wand on the floor and returning his attention to Neville again. He placed his hands on Neville's shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "I placed a magical _DO NOT DISTURB_ sign on the shed for us."

"Won't they wonder?"

Charlie smiled at Neville, his eyes dark, and Neville almost stopped breathing. "Maybe. Or maybe they'll notice you and I are both missing and _stop_ wondering."

"But…"

Charlie took a step closer to Neville, so his chest pressed against Neville's, and Neville stopped talking. "Let them wonder," he said before leaning in for a kiss.

The gentle way Charlie kissed truly surprised Neville. The man was nothing but a contradiction in himself. He was quite the joker with the kids, which Neville hadn't expected because he'd been used to the other Weasley brothers having a more distinguished sense of humour. He was also the strong and the silent type at times, especially when it came to his work: Neville had followed up on Charlie's career as a Dragon Tamer and found it was always featured in the news — if one knew where to look. And now, the sexy, firm man Neville had expected to Charlie to be was also kind with tentative kisses, and an aura of nervousness.

Neville moaned into Charlie's mouth when he slid his tongue in, and Charlie pressed more firmly against him. Their groins brushed together, and suddenly, all Neville wanted was to rid of all their clothes so they could be even closer together.

He reached down with his right hand and pushed against Charlie's erection and Charlie threw his head back and groaned. "Fuck…" he said. "I just wanted to kiss you tonight, but…"

"We can do more. You said you wanted to do more than just flirt…"

"I want to take you apart, Nev," whispered Charlie. He thrust into Neville's palm as Neville cupped his hand to squeeze Charlie's cock through his trousers. "Lick and taste every part of you."

 _Shit_ , Neville thought. His jeans were getting tighter, and his boxers were getting damp. If he continued to play with Charlie, and listen to Charlie talk and moan like that, he was going to come in his pants.

"Can I…" Neville asked, his hands going to the button on Charlie's trousers and resting there. "Touch you properly?"

Charlie nodded, and then his mouth was on Neville's neck and he was sucking. Hard.

"Oh...yes!" Neville groaned, his knees nearly losing it, before he managed to compose himself again. His hand reached into Charlie's trousers, going past his underwear, and freeing his cock. Neville started to pump lightly, sliding his thumb over the head of Charlie's cock, eventually dragging a fingernail over the slit and—

"Merlin, help me…" Charlie moaned.

"Can I do more than touch?" Neville asked and Charlie looked at him confused. He moaned again when Neville reached down with his other hand and fondled Charlie's balls.

"Like…" he said, breathless, "Like what?"

"Taste you?"

This was such a surprising turn of events that Neville didn't know what to do with himself. Unexpectedly, _Charlie_ seemed to be coming apart under his touch while he himself had managed to keep his feathers unruffled.

Charlie's eyes widened at Neville's question, and Neville grabbed Charlie's hand to lead him to the far corner of the shed. He picked up Charlie's wand and asked Charlie if he could use it. Charlie nodded a yes.

Neville cast a simple spell and conjured up a flower bed mostly made of orchids, lilies, and tulips. "Probably better on the knees than the hard floor," he said.

Charlie grinned at him and removed his shirt as Neville worked on pulling down Charlie's trousers and pants. Charlie lay on his back looking up at Neville with eager, hungry eyes, and watched as Neville undressed.

When Neville settled himself on his knees between Charlie's legs, he started by massaging Charlie's calves. Charlie groaned his appreciation, and his legs lifted on their own accord as Neville went to push them up. It was as if Charlie knew what Neville had in mind. Which _part_ of him Neville wanted to taste. Charlie pulled his legs all the way up to his chest and looked as though he was trying to open himself up for Neville.

Neville leaned down, his hands parting Charlie's arsecheeks, and giving his hole a tentative lick. Charlie let out a sharp breath before Neville pushed his tongue in, loving the taste, but also loving the way Charlie was reacting to him. His own cock was rock hard and leaking but he was ignoring it for now. There'd be time for his own pleasure later. Or maybe he'd simply come while pleasuring Charlie. Either scenario was more than acceptable to him.

"Oh. Go—"

Neville stopped what he was doing, no matter how much he was loving it, when he realised Charlie had started to pull on his cock.

"No…" Neville said, placing his hand on Charlie's wrist, motioning him to stop. "You can't come like this. I told you, I was going to taste you… and I've not finished…"

"But…" Charlie said in frustration when Neville bit his lower lip and eyed Charlie's cock. Charlie stopped talking immediately. "Get on with it, then" he pleaded instead.

Neville gave the head of Charlie's cock a lick when Charlie grabbed onto a handful of Neville's hair and shoved Neville's face down. Neville would have complained, except he wanted this. He wanted to suck Charlie, and realising how desperate Charlie was for it made his entire experience a million times better.

His hand grabbed the base of Charlie's cock and he started to lick and suck the best way he knew how. He tried to take Charlie all the way into his mouth and down his throat, but as he would have anticipated, Charlie was hung like a fucking Hungarian Horntail.

He was at it for a while, his own abandoned cock begging for attention, when Charlie stopped him.

"Wait. Wait. Wait." He sounded so desperate, Neville almost didn't want to stop, but at the same time, he wanted to do _everything_ to please Charlie.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe I could…do you think? I could return the favour at the same time. I want to taste you too, Neville."

Damn that sounded good, but Neville wanted more things. He only wanted to tease Charlie with his tongue, because what he _really_ wanted was to ride him.

"Perhaps next time," Neville said with a smile, hoping there _would_ be a next time. "What do you think about me riding you instead?"

"I…shit…yeah. Okay," Charlie said, his cheeks had turned pink, and his gaze darkened again. "I would be _absolutely_ okay with that. Do you need me to—?"

"No." Neville shook his head, rising up on his knees and reaching for Charlie's wand again. "May I?" he asked and Charlie nodded. "I have a feeling you'd like to watch." He picked up a tulip bud and mumbled a spell, transfiguring it into a pool of lube in his palm, then dipped two fingers in.

"Fuck, Nev. I'd no idea you were like this. I would have tried to seduce you ages ago."

"You've had your eye one me?" Neville asked, feeling exhilarated at the idea of Charlie having wanted him for as long as he'd wanted Charlie.

"Something like that. You've always intrigued me… Oh, Merlin, your fingers… Let me see…"

Neville turned around. He rested himself on his knees and left hand, giving the full view of his arse—his fingers entered him and he started to open himself up. For Charlie.

"Not sure how long I'll last but Merlin do I want to be inside you…" Charlie whispered.

"Almost ready for you," Neville said. "Do you want me on all fours or do you—"

"Ride me, like you'd promised. I want to watch your face when I'm buried inside you. When you come all over my chest. I want to see what it's like to see you torn apart."

"The things you say, Charlie," Neville said, lining Charlie's cock against his hole while Charlie's firm hands rested on Neville's hips. He pushed down, Charlie keeping his hold on him, all the while slowly and torturously penetrating him. "If you wanted me like this…all you had to do was ask."

"Where's the fun in that?" Charlie said in a teasing tone. "I loved creeping behind you, finding excuses to touch you, and loved having this dirty desire as I pretended it was all innocent fun."

"You're so dirty…" Neville threw his head back and groaned as he settled himself down, with Charlie buried deep inside him. "Fuck, I've always wanted this. Wanted you…" He moved his hips gradually, careful to make sure they had enough time to do this properly: with Charlie looking like he was so close to the edge, Neville wanted to be certain he didn't come before they even got started. His cock felt so _good_ inside Neville.

Charlie's hands stayed firm on Neville's hips as Neville rose and fell on his cock. They kept their eyes on each other the entire time, and Neville thought they might have been playing a game to see who would look away first, but neither of them did. With Neville's hands pressed firmly against Charlie's chest, Charlie came inside him with a shout—moaning Neville's name.

Neville had thought he would get off just with his hand, with Charlie still looking at him the way he had been, but Charlie yet again surprised him. In a swift motion, he had Neville on his back on the soft bed of flowers, and his mouth was on Neville's cock. He truly did return the favour.

0-0-0-0

When Neville woke up in the morning, he was alone. He was under a sort of makeshift cover, and he was cold. The flower bed was gone, the silencing charm had been lifted, and there was no sign of Charlie.

He was about to curse himself for being a fool, for being disappointed at the fact that his one-off was exactly that, when he spotted Charlie's wand still by his side. Seeing the wand gave him hope. _Could this mean he's not abandoned me_?

Neville sat up on the cold, hard floor, still feeling unsure. Why had he done this? He hadn't been drunk last night so it wasn't as if he could blame it on alcohol or poor judgement — he was just — he'd been — lonely. He'd fancied Charlie so much for so long, he'd given in on his desires without having thought it through. "You're an idiot." _An idiot who's afraid of the dark. Of course a man like Charlie Weasley isn't going to have you for keeps. Not when he can have anyone he wants_. He certainly looked the type.

"Shit, you're up."

Neville looked towards the door of the shed and found Charlie standing by the door with a small tray in hand. "Mum sent breakfast."

"Oh. God." Yes, in the back of his mind, Neville had thought the family was going to know what he'd been up to. Especially when Charlie had said they'd both be missing from the sitting room, but to _know_ Mrs Weasley _knew_ he and Charlie were—fucking? Oh Merlin, he hoped she didn't realise they'd been _fucking_ … "Maybe we should have thought that through."

"What do you mean?" Charlie came over to sit across from Neville, who was still naked beneath the blanket Charlie had tossed on him before leaving, and placed the tray of food between them.

"Your family knows we fucked. I mean, aren't they going to think _things_ about us that may not be true?" _In other words, I don't want them to think I fuck men left and right and centre_.

"As in, we're two individuals who enjoy sex?"

"As in, we're two individuals that are in a relationship. I mean it's your _family_ , for goodness sake. I don't go around having sex with the Weasleys! What will Molly think? You and I had sex once and now what? We're just going to pretend it never happened? I'll just have to stop coming around so often and—"

"Oh."

" _What_?" Neville snapped, annoyed at the interruption from Charlie but then he caught the look on Charlie's face and immediately sobered up. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. Sorry. I just—" Charlie bit off a huge piece of bread and chewed, as if stopping himself from talking. _Yep, Ron Weasley's brother, ladies and gentlemen_.

"Will you tell me what's up? Did I say the wrong thing?"

"Hadn't realised it was a one-time thing. Or that it would have been—"

"I didn't think you'd be interested in anything more. _You_ said you enjoyed teasing me. Wanted to see me fall apart."

"I wanted to see you come apart."

"Yeah? What's the fucking difference…"

Charlie crossed his arms and stared at Neville – really glowered at him without saying a word. What did he expect? Did he think Neville was going to tremble under his gaze? Express his deepest desires to him?

"What do you want?" he asked eventually because the silence was daunting and Neville was painfully aware that he was still naked. Charlie being all stern and sexy like that was more of a turn on than he would have liked.

"I enjoyed having sex with you."

"Okay."

"I spent the night with you."

"Yes..."

"I brought you breakfast in shed."

At that, Neville snorted. "Gods, you're such a Weasley."

Charlie shrugged. "Well, you seem to love Weasleys."

"That, I do."

"Maybe you could try to get to know me and love me all the same?"

Neville pretended to think it over and then tossed the cover to reveal his naked body to Charlie. He was already hard. "I'm quite sure that could be arranged."

Neville never stopped hating the dark, or spooky noises, or anything that was Halloween, but he did stop pretending Charlie's stupid excuses to touch him bothered him. If anything, he looked forward to them.

* * *

 **THE END**


End file.
